Welcome to a special edition of our Friday teaching series. As a new year approaches, we know that many people are looking for something different, a new way of living. The answer to their search rests fully in Jesus Christ. His death ushered in the New Covenant and this is where we will find peace and joy. When we come alive to this new way of life, we will experience the change we desire. We've been given a new life, a new heart, a new identity and a new way of living altogether. Join us in 2017 as we talk about what it means to live differently. From all of us at Basic Gospel. Happy New Year!

Hope anchors us to Jesus, and to all that we are and have in Him. From this hope spring forth faith and love. These three - faith, hope and love - are the way of the Kingdom of God. These are the new laws God placed in your mind and wrote on your heart. Once we are saved, we can't go back. The only option is to move forward. We can't reverse all that Christ accomplished. We can't go from life back to death. We can't go from belief to unbelief. That's good news! (Chapter 12, page 90)

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins..." (Colossians 1:13-14). Our story is a tale of two kingdoms. It involves a daring rescue mission that snatches us away from one kingdom and places us fully and forever into a new kingdom. God's rescue plan was drawn up by love and grace and was carried out through death, burial and resurrection. Through faith in Jesus Christ, you have gone from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. You are in the kingdom of the Son! The kingdom of the darkness has no hold over you anymore. The power of sin and death has been broken. You are free!

"New" is an exciting word when it's attached to things like cars, clothes, a house and gadgets. But when it comes to the weightier matters of life, "new" can be scary word. It means change. It means stepping into the unknown and the unfamiliar. But the Gospel ushers us into the new. And there's no going back to the old way of life. The only option is to move forward into all that God has for us in Jesus Christ. Welcome to the new!

God's plan for the Israelites was freedom. But Pharaoh was stubborn. He was not going to let the Israelites go. They were far too valuable to him and the Egyptian economy. Through a series of plagues, God displayed his awesome power. And with each one, Pharaoh's heart hardened even more. It was the last plague, which we know as the Passover, that compelled Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The story of the exodus describes your new life in Christ. Your old way of life has come to an end. You are no longer a slave to sin. You are a child of the living God. But not just a child. God declared you to be a son. (Chapter 11, page 83)

What is the new covenant about? * Why do we need a new covenant? * What is the law for? * What marked the end of the old and the beginning of the new covenant? * What covenant did Jesus live under? * Isn't the law there to improve me? * Heb.9:22, Heb. 10:1-18 What provides for the forgiveness of sin? * How can I fill the void within? *

The people of Israel suffered for 400 years at the hands of the Egyptians. They were living in the wrong place, under the control of the wrong person, carrying out the wrong purpose. But God did not leave them there. Freedom was his plan. Just as the Israelites were delivered, Jesus Christ delivered you out of darkness. He set you free by unlocking the chains of sin and death that held you captive. Your hope of living life to the full in anchored to his power and presence in you. This hope trumps fear. And it silences all those legalistic voices, both internal and external, that say you can't handle freedom. Christ in you says you can!

We are honoring our veterans today. They deserve honor, respect and dignity for the service of the brave Americans who have sustained the freedom that we all enjoy. Freedom comes at a price and we should be aware of the sacrifice of those who have fought to defend it. Enjoy this special edition of Basic Gospel!

Forgiveness plus life equals freedom. Real freedom. This is where the Gospel takes us. Paul puts it this way: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1). Freedom is what you have longed for all your life. Now in Christ, it is yours. Here is the good news! Through faith in Jesus we have escaped the world and it's system. We are not under law. We are under grace. We have been set free. This is God's goal for us, and he has equipped us to handle it.

The message is clear and strong. Jesus sat down because his work was finished. He accomplished everything the Father sent him to accomplish. He satisfied the justice and holiness of God. He satisfied his Father once and for all. He successfully turned aside the wrath of God. God judged our sin, condemned it, and he punished it. But that was not the end goal. The fact that God has declared you righteous in his sight is proof that all your sins have been forgiven. They have been sent away from you as far as the east is from the west. The work has been done. It is time to rest and enjoy your freedom in Christ. (Chapter 10, pg 75)